Rooftop bars in Kuching come down to two hotel sky bars, the Sky Lounge on the 17th floor of the Riverside Majestic’s Astana Wing and Tabby on level 23 of the Sheraton, plus a rooftop seafood court and a few lower terraces. Neither sky bar publishes a menu, but hotel-bar cocktails in Kuching sit around RM35 to RM65, while the sunset from the Waterfront promenade costs nothing and the can of beer that goes with it costs about a tenth of that.
Kuching is a low-rise river city, so “rooftop” here usually means the fifth floor or the roof of a carpark, and only the two hotels above clear the skyline. The sun sets in the west, over the river and towards Santubong, between about 6.15pm and 6.45pm through the year. I have lived here since 2016, and the sunset I watch most is from the Waterfront promenade, not from a bar.
Rooftop and High-Floor Bars at a Glance
| Venue | Building and floor | View | Drinks (estimates) | Dress code | Best time | Minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sky Lounge | Riverside Majestic, Astana Wing, 17th floor | River, Fort Margherita, Waterfront | Cocktails roughly RM35 to RM65 (no published menu) | Smart casual | Opens 4pm, before sunset | Cocktails uneven, live band loud |
| Tabby | Sheraton Kuching, level 23 | Waterfront, state assembly, Santubong on clear evenings | Cocktails roughly RM35 to RM65 (no published menu) | Smart casual | 5.30pm onwards | Food and service complaints, closed Mondays |
| Top Spot | Carpark roof, Jalan Bukit Mata | Padungan rooftops | Large bottle of beer RM15 to RM20 | Anything | 5.30pm, before the crowd | Hot, no air-conditioning, slow lift |
| Sakugei Yakitori | Gala City, 3rd floor, Jalan Tun Jugah | Sunset over the commercial blocks | Not confirmed | Casual | 5.30pm to 7pm | Far from the river, closed Sundays |
| LimeLight | LimeTree Hotel, 5th floor, Jalan Abell | River and kampung opposite | Not confirmed | Casual | Late afternoon | Early close, average view |
| Cloud9 | Roxy Impiana Hotel, 9th floor | City skyline | Not confirmed | Casual | Weekday sunset | No listed hours, food mixed |
The Sky Bars
Kuching’s two sky bars sit in hotels on opposite sides of the Waterfront, and they differ more in what they serve than in what you see. Neither gets everything right: no bar here pairs a high floor and a river view with drinks or food that match the price.
Sky Lounge, Riverside Majestic Hotel Astana Wing
The Sky Lounge is on the 17th floor, on Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman and opens at 4pm daily until midnight, checked October 2026. Its view covers the river, Fort Margherita and the Waterfront, and opening at 4pm means you can be seated before the sun goes down. Getting there takes a lift plus a short flight of stairs, which visitors with bags or bad knees mention.
Live music plays in the indoor lounge at weekends. Visitors who like the view most say to sit on the outdoor terrace, the warmer smoking area, if you want to talk. The minus is plain: the drinks are priced for the view and do not always match it. Reviewers praise the Singapore Sling and the draught beer. A September 2025 visitor, though, was served a Black Russian with no cola and a Pina Colada they described as weak, and said the prices were not worth a second visit.
Tabby, Sheraton Kuching
Tabby is an open-air bar on level 23 of the Sheraton, on the same floor as the infinity pool, and opened in 2024. Google lists it as open 5pm to midnight, closed Mondays, checked October 2026. The view runs over the Waterfront and the state assembly building, and visitors who come at sunset rate it excellent.
The signature drink is the Tabby Sling, a tropical cocktail built on four spirits. The kitchen does local fusion, nasi lemak and coconut chicken among them. The minus sits on the plate and at the door. A 2026 reviewer described overcooked lamb and duck, and another said staff looked them over from head to toe in a work outfit and were friendlier to guests in smarter clothes. Dress smart casual and eat before you go. Because the terrace is open-air, heavy rain ends the evening.
Rooftops Without the Height
Four places in Kuching use the word rooftop without the height: a seafood court on a carpark, a yakitori bar on a mall’s third floor, and two hotel floors between the fifth and ninth storeys. None of them has a skyline view.
Top Spot Food Court
Top Spot is an open-air seafood court on the roof of a carpark off Jalan Bukit Mata, open 4pm to 10pm daily, checked October 2026. It is a beer-with-seafood place and not a bar, and the drinks stalls are separate from the food stalls. A large bottle of Tiger or Anchor costs roughly RM15 to RM20, and the view is over the Padungan rooftops and the red prawn sign rather than the river. Each stall weighs the crab or fish and quotes a price before it is cooked, and which stalls deserve the queue is the one decision worth making before you climb.
The minus is the roof itself. Weekend visitors mention a long wait for the lift, with the stairs quicker, and the court has no air-conditioning, so it is hot and smoky once the woks are lit. Going at 5.30pm beats the weekend crowd. The busiest stalls sell near-identical menus at similar prices, so how the main stalls compare is a matter of queue length and cooking style.
If the seafood matters more than the roof, the best seafood in Kuching goes beyond this one carpark.
Sakugei Yakitori Rooftop Bar
Sakugei is a Japanese izakaya on the 3rd floor of a commercial block at Gala City on Jalan Tun Jugah, about ten minutes’ drive from the Waterfront. It opens 4pm to 1am Monday to Thursday, 4pm to 2am on Friday and Saturday, and is closed on Sundays, checked October 2026. A band plays some nights, and visitors point to a Saturday buy-one-get-one on cocktails and a Wednesday bring-your-own-whisky night with no corkage, though those deals may have changed.
Sakugei is a mall-floor izakaya with a rooftop in its name, not a rooftop. The view is the sunset over the Gala City rooftops and not over the river, and the distance from the old town is the minus. Reviewers describe the prices as reasonable, so come for the yakitori and the cocktail deals.
LimeLight Rooftop Lounge
LimeLight is on level 5 of the LimeTree Hotel on Jalan Abell, open 4pm to 10pm Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 4pm to 11pm Friday to Sunday, and closed Wednesdays, checked October 2026. Visitors disagree about the view: one 2025 reviewer praised the river, the kampung across it and the sunset, and another called it average, looking onto old shophouses and a short stretch of river. The minus is the early close: it shuts at 10pm on weekdays, and an engagement-party host in 2024 had to take their decorations down by 10pm.
Cloud9, Roxy Impiana Hotel
Cloud9 sits on the 9th floor of the Roxy Impiana Hotel and gets mixed reviews on food and good ones on the sunset from its window side. A weekday visitor in 2025 had the whole place to themselves, and the drinks scored better than the grilled chicken and lamb pizza. Google lists no hours, so call before you go.
Hotel Pool and Lobby Bars with a View
Two more hotels have pool-side bars: the Pullman on Jalan Mathies and the Waterfront Hotel in the old town, and both are quieter than the sky bars. Liquid Bar sits by the Pullman’s outdoor pool, and it is a hotel bar first, so call the hotel on +60 82 222 888 for hours before you go. The Waterfront Hotel has a rooftop bar beside its pool, which a 2025 visitor described as peaceful with a lovely view.
Which of these hotels suits a stay is a separate question, and how many hotels there are in Kuching sets the Pullman and Waterfront against the rest. For a dinner with a view rather than a drink, the riverfront hotels come up first, and where to go for dinner with a view puts those hotel restaurants beside Top Spot’s open-air roof.
The Free Rooftop
The free option is the Waterfront promenade and the Darul Hana bridge at about 6.15pm, with a can of beer from a stall along the river for a fraction of a hotel cocktail. That is where I watch it, rather than paying hotel-bar prices. The sun sets over the same water either way, and the promenade lets you walk to the bridge afterwards, as the Waterfront and old town hub maps. Barrio Bar on Jalan Tabuan, open 4.30pm to 2am, is the street-level alternative when it rains.
Which One for Sunset?
Choose the Sky Lounge for the river and Fort Margherita, and Tabby for the Santubong silhouette plus a full meal, as long as the weather holds and you can live with a shaky kitchen. The Waterfront costs nothing. Neither sky bar is worth RM35 or more for a sunset that the promenade gives away. I rate the promenade sunset about level with the one at Damai Beach, and neither has a drinks minimum.